Prompt library
Plan a week of meals around real life
Effort-matched-to-calendar is what makes a meal plan survive contact with an actual week, and the ingredient bridge cuts both cost and waste without recipe gymnastics. The escape hatch and the specialty-ingredient rule handle the two ways plans die: collapse nights and one-use jars.
Last reviewed July 17, 2026
The prompt
Plan a week of dinners.
Household and constraints: {{household}}
Food preferences and dislikes: {{preferences}}
The week's reality (late days, social plans): {{week}}
Rules:
1. Match effort to the day: 15-minute meals on the late days, the one ambitious cook on the most relaxed evening, and one explicit leftovers-or-freezer night. The plan follows my calendar, not an ideal week.
2. Build an ingredient bridge: at least 3 deliberate reuses across the week (roast once, use twice; herbs bought once, used thrice), and say which meals share what.
3. Per dinner: the dish, active minutes vs total minutes, and the make-ahead step that fits the night before if any.
4. The shopping list, grouped by store section, with quantities that respect the reuse plan. Mark what I likely already have.
5. The escape hatch: the one pantry meal for the night the plan collapses, from ingredients that keep.
6. Nothing exotic-for-one-meal: any specialty ingredient must appear at least twice or get substituted.
Variety within reason; novelty is for weekends, reliability is for Tuesdays.Run in idaptOpens a new chat with the prompt prefilled. Nothing sends until you press send.
Fill in the variables
| Variable | What it is | Example |
|---|---|---|
| {{household}} | Who eats and hard constraints | two adults, one 6-year-old; no nuts; 30-minute weekday cap |
| {{preferences}} | Likes and dislikes | love pasta and asian flavors; kid rejects visible onions |
| {{week}} | The actual week's shape | late Tuesday and Thursday; friends over Saturday |